Virginia’s Person of the Year for 1861 would be… ???

Yes, I know, there are lots of folks out there who would immediately proclaim Robert E. Lee as Virginia’s Man Person of the Year for 1861… without giving the question further thought. Yet, I think that identifies a problem.

Personally, I think the question merits further thought.

What, exactly, would make someone a “person of the year”? Would a consideration be, perhaps, that person’s demonstrated effort at preventing war, yet while remaining distinctively Virginian? Would the person be evaluated strictly on personal allegiance and/or adherence to personal principles? Does he/she have to be a warrior? A politician? Do we look only at people who had some bearing on the decisions that took place leading up to Virginia’s decision on secession? Why shouldn’t we give thought to people other than Lee? Perhaps you find something favorable with Letcher, Wise, Baldwin, Janney, Stuart, Lewis, Gray, Botts, Strother or… someone else. Perhaps there’s even some who would say that Ruffin should be considered.

Who did Virginia and Virginians a service? A disservice?

Perhaps I should open the floor to nominations, with explanation as to why YOU, the reader, would vote for a particular person. Remember, it’s just for 1861. Keep in mind, the people I named above are just a few names that come to mind on the fly. Certainly, there are more who might be considered. It doesn’t have to be a man. Perhaps there’s a woman (Van Lew?), or perhaps an African-American who comes to mind.

Once (and if) I get enough nominations (accompanied by explanation… in 90 words or less… as to why), I’ll post a voting option on the blog.

Please give it some thought, and get back to me.

*… yes, you see Strother’s name in the above list, and, while I use his image often in my profiles on FaceBook and Twitter, I’m not convinced yet that he is a real contender for Virginia’s Person of the Year for 1861.

I nominate George Henry Thomas. His family background was similar to Lee’s, part of the Virginia gentry. His family were slaveholders, as he himself was. As a young man he had helped protect his family during Nat Turner’s rebellion years before. His family were committed to Virginia, secession and the Confederate cause, to the extent that his sisters symbolically turned his picture to the wall, and never reconciled with him again. He’d been seriously injured not long before the war began in a fall from a rail car, and could have plausibly and without dishonor declined active service in either Army.

But he didn’t. Faced with the same dilemma as Lee, he made a different choice, and proved to be one of the most capable generals — and today, one of the least appreciated by the general public — the Union had.

I still chuckle when I recall Thomas’ response to an officer who, in charge of establishing a cemetery for Union dead, asked if they should be grouped by their state of origin. “No, no, no!” Thomas replied. “Mix ’em up, mix ’em up. I’m tired of states’ rights!”

Sorry, shoulda’ made clear — I think Thomas is appropriate for 1861 because that’s the point where he decided where his loyalty would lie, and that he would take an active role in it. The fame and military accomplishments would come later, but 1861 was the defining moment that led to all the rest..

From a Confederate perspective, I’d go with Joseph E. Johnston. Victor at Manassas and then overall commander for all the forces in norther Virginia for the rest of ’61. John Magruder or John B. Floyd might would be contenders as well.

As for a non-Confederate or present day perspective, G.H. Thomas might would be right for a later Civil War year (and as y’all for sure know Thomas wasn’t the only similarly situated Virginian who made the same choice he made in ’61 — you have your John Newton, William Terrill and Jesse Reno (unless West Virginia doesn’t count) as well), but someone like John F. Lewis (I had to look him up) might be best for ’61. I don’t know enough about secession Virginia or antebellum Virginian history to know who was shining bright in 1861… especially from western Virginia.

The first fighting Unionist from Virginia that came to my mind was David Hunter Strother though. Although in the grand schemes of things maybe he wasn’t that important. His year might would be ’62 though.

To be honest, I’m too ignorant to have a proper opinion. I know nearly nothing about Unionist Virginia, but for those who served in the Federal army and made a name for themselves in that. And I know nearly nothing of Virginia secession politics.

So I have to abstain from any clear cut overall pick, I think. I just don’t know enough to properly judge these people relative to their peers.

… that said, for good or bad, I’d probably pick the Virginian who was the most responsible for Virginia’s secession from the Union. Secession was THE event of 1861 Virginia and without it you don’t have a Philippi Races, a Big Bethel, a First Manassas or a Ball’s Bluff that year, etc., etc. And of course you don’t end up getting the western counties forming West Virginia later on without secession. The Civil War itself might not have happened if Virginia hadn’t of seceded. So I’d probably go with the person most responsible for Virginia’s secession.

I vote for General George H. Thomas. He took care of his men and his strategies were studied at West Point. I concede that my own relative General Irvin McDowell was a better civil engineer than a master of organizing state militias into a Federal force. Thomas had the gift of being able to take men of disparate training and getting them into shape to be able to work together. Thomas got black soldiers to work with white soldiers. Thomas was the most under-appreciated general of 1861. He deserves the honor now.

Nah, dawg, y’all missed it. It is obviously Benjamin F. Butler. For the US he held onto Fortress Monroe and kept a toe-hold in the important port of Norfolk; for the CSA he managed to bolster Confederate moral and martial ego. Who else did so much for both causes?

My vote would go towards either Gov. John Leichter or former President John Tyler.
The Governor convened a Commonwealth Convention to discuss the issue of seccesion, and the former President presided over the events. It was this convention a…nd the follow up sessions that led to Virginia finally issuing its resignation from the United States.
Were it not for these two men, and the others involved, Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jackson- along with numerous other names- would be footnotes in history to be studied only be hardcore military trivia fanatics… like Bob

[…] Having asked about for input for a vote for Virginia’s person of the year for 1861, I felt that I also had to ask the same for Maryland. This time, however, Robert E. Lee is not an option, creating what is, I think, a more challenging question to answer. Who stands out as “Person of the Year” for Maryland, for 1861? […]